A mid-range phone would not have garnered as much attention as a flagship smartphone up until a year ago. But all that changed in 2018, when we saw phones like the Nokia 7 Plus, Xiaomi Mi A2, Realme 2 Pro and the likes. Mid-range phones this year have enough firepower to hold their own against far more formidable (and more expensive) flagships. While that’s primarily thanks to the advancement in compute power from chipset makers and the omnipresent buzzword that is AI, some of the mid-range phones launched this year are capable, reliable and most importantly, exciting. At Digit Zero1 Awards, we look at the best performing devices across categories, and while mid-range phones (for obvious reasons) can’t reach up to the level of flagships, they aren’t slouches by any means either. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the nominations for Zero1 Awards 2018 for Best Mid-Range Smartphone.
The Nokia 7 Plus is a culmination of everything HMD Global has done this year to reincarnate the iconic brand. With a standout design that remains durable, and a hassle-free user experience, the Nokia 7 Plus sums up Espoo’s comeback story. It’s a breeze to use primarily because of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC and the no-frills Android UI. In fact, the Nokia 7 Plus became one of the first devices to receive the Android 9 Pie update recently. The spec-sheet of the phone is certainly impressive but the price is on the higher side, and we are currently evaluating whether the Nokia 7 Plus has enough value proposition to be the best mid-range smartphone of 2018.Click here to buy.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 has almost the exact same spec-sheet as the Nokia 7 Plus, but comes with a much lower price tag. What gives? Well, the Mi A2 is certainly quite handy to use and has an amazing camera on the back. Plus there’s the Android One certification that guarantees regular updates including the one to Android 9 Pie. It’s also quite the performer with a Snapdragon 660 processor and 4GB RAM, 64GB storage. With a spec-sheet this impressive and the price so attractive, is the Mi A2 the winner? Stay tuned to find out.Click here to buy.
Big-screen phones don’t necessarily have to be an underwhelming giant slab of glass and that’s exactly what the Honor 8X goes on to prove. It’s massive display stretches almost all the way to the edges and the notch on top isn’t as invasive as in other phones. But the Honor 8X doesn’t stop at being a phone with just a big screen. It also packs a lot of firepower in the form of the new Kirin 710 SoC that offers butter-smooth performance. There’s ample amounts of AI of course (considering this is a Honor phone) and we are currently testing whether the sum of all the features in the Honor 8X deserve the Zero1 honours.Click here to buy.
When Asus launched the Max Pro M1, little did we know that the phone will script a comeback story for the Taiwanese giant and grab market share away from Xiaomi. But then it did. And for good reason. Asus played by the books and ticked off all the features that were in demand — Portrait mode in camera, univisium display, stock Android and a massive 5,000mAh battery. Asus managed to sell a lot of units of the phones, and we’re currently evaluating whether this should be win the Zero1 Awards for the best mid-range smartphone of 2018.
Rarely does a new entrant in the market manage to put the fear of God in the hearts of the dominators, but Realme did it with the Realme 2 Pro. It’s route to success was primarily a beefed-up spec-sheet offered at a never-before-seen price. Plus it has the looks in its favour as well. Will the Realme 2 Pro win the crown? Stay tuned.
Huawei’s comeback into the Indian market saw more than just a flagship launched by the Chinese conglomerate. Instead, it released a bevy of mid-rangers and out of them, the Huawei P20 Lite stands out for its interesting colour variants and the camera on the back. It’s also a decent performer thanks to Huawei’s Kirin 659 SoC and overall, offers good bang for the buck. But is that enough to become the best mid-ranger? We’ll find out soon after we’re done evaluating.Click here to buy.